The secret son
by Guest1320
Summary: Percy, Annabeth, Thalia and Grover recieve a prohecy that leads them to Gotham city. The city rumoured to have been abandoned by the gods themselves. There they meet a young boy with dark black hair and bright blue eyes, a boy who looks suspisciously similar to Percy.
1. Gotham

I own nothing*

Percy: age 17

Annabeth: age 17

Grover: age 18

Thalia: age 15

Dick: age 9

Percy slowly sat down on the bench, a relief to his aching muscles. His visit to Gotham city was starting out to be less than pleasant. Looking around at the others he could tell everyone felt the same.

Annabeth was slouching in her seat, a stark difference to her usually perfect posture. Grover was nibbling on a can weakly and was sweating heavily as if he'd just run a marathon. He wouldn't have been able to tell that anything was wrong with Thalia if not for the large scowl on her face. This quest was proving to be extremely difficult.

When he'd first heard he'd be going to Gotham city Percy was ecstatic! Rumour had it that no monster dared to enter that city, so they should have had a smooth trip.

Unfortunately that was not the case. Before leaving they were warned that a chaotic energy lurked within the city, neither monsters nor gods could enter, and demigods who entered would be stripped of their powers. Although it was unclear what the city would do to creatures like fauns and centaurs it was clear by the look on Grover's face that he was suffering the worst.

"So any idea what we're looking for?" Thalia asked. Percy winced, her voice sounded weaker than usual. Is this what it was like to be completely human? If so, humans deserved a lot more credit than he'd thought before.

"Find the bird who lived in the city of death, a broken family reunited in the end, a secret revealed from a good mans final breath, a cruel betrayal from the one you call friend." Annabeth recited the prophesy gloomily. "Gotham must be the city of death. It has the highest crime rate in the whole world, but what bird are we supposed to be looking for?"

"Not just any bird, the bird who lived." Grover said before taking another bite out of his can.

Percy looked around as his friends continued to discuss the encrypted meaning. They were in a small park in the nicer area of Gotham. Children ran around playing while parents chatted and laughed. Percy narrowed his eyes.

He didn't like this city

Although people seemed to be enjoying their time everyone seemed just a little off.

Percy noticed the way the kids would run around playing tag but every few minutes they'd freeze to look at their parents as if they expected to be called back at any moment. The adults talking kept a careful eye on their kids, and whenever they'd laugh with each other, it sounded more like a nervous giggle.

It was unsettling, people acted as if they expected an attack at any moment. Besides monsters and demons Percy had no idea what could scare someone enough to act like this.

Suddenly Percy caught the eye of a young boy, who couldn't have been older than seven, he was staring at him intently. There was something familiar about him, but Percy couldn't put his finger on what. He then noticed the boys piercing blue eyes, he had never seen eyes that colour before.

Percy turned his head towards his friends then back to the boy. He was still staring at them as if there was something he couldn't figure out.

The boy turned his head up towards his father, who was talking animatedly with another man around his age, he said something to him then began walking towards him.

Percy noticed that the discussion in his group had quieted down as everyone noticed the approaching boy.

He stopped directly in front of Grover, looked him up and down, eyes lingering on his hooves. Percy's heart gave a jump, could he see through the mist?

"I've never seen a Satyr in Gotham before." He stated bluntly.

Everyone sat in awkward silence looking at each other and not quite knowing what to say.

"What are you doing here? I thought demi-gods hated Gotham, you know with the whole no powers thing."

"We could ask you the same thing." Thalia said, finding her voice.

"I live here, what's your excuse." The boy huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wait, you live here!" Grover exclaimed in shock. "How did a demi-god survive, what seven, eight years in Gotham city? We've been here a day and I already feel sick!"

The boys face scrunched up in anger. "For your information I'm nine!" He looked at each of Percy's friends in turn then sighed. "And I've only lived here for a year." He mumbled sadly.

"Where did you live before than?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Everywhere and nowhere." He crossed his arms and gave a cheeky grin.

"Well thats vague, I'm guessing son of Hermes." Thalia smiled.

"No, and I don't feel like revealing personal information to strangers." He scowled.

"Here, I'm Thalia Grace, that's Annabeth Chase, this is Grover Underwood and that's Percy Jackson. There, were not strangers anymore. Besides we're all basically cousins anyway."

The boys scowl deepened. "I'm Richard Grayson, but my friends call me Dick."

Thalia chuckled at this. Dick glared. "I know another Thalia..." He narrowed his eyes and stared at the ground. "Meanest lady I've ever met." He shivered.

Thalia's smile disappeared. "Sorry." She muttered.

"Listen, this is really important. Can you tell us who your father or mother is? It might help us with our quest." Annabeth pleaded.

Dick looked down uncertainly. "I-I can't."

Percy sighed. "Here we'll tell you who our parents are. Thalia's father is Zeus."

Dick looked up at this, interestedly. "Cool, one of the big three."

"Annabeth's mother is Athena." Dick smiled and nodded.

"Both my parents were also Satyr's." Grover said. Dick giggled, a nice contrast from his previous scowl. "And my father is Poseidon."

Suddenly the boys smile completely disappeared. He took a small step closer towards Percy and searched his face. Annabeth looked at Percy quizzically, he just shrugged.

When Percy looked back at Dick he could see hope flickering in his eyes. "Your my brother?" He whispered.


	2. Poseidon

Percy jumped back and fell off the bench. He could hear Annabeth, Grover and Thalia shouting in surprise. When he sat back up he saw that Dick had begun backing away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Percy scrambled up and tried to walk towards him. With every step he took Dick took two steps back.

"I-I was just kidding. I don't know who my parent is!"

"But you said I was your brother!" His brother! That fact had just hit him hard. Hadn't Percy always wanted a brother. Sure he had Tyson, but he barely ever got to see him, not to mention that he was part cyclops. "Wait! Please, come with me, I can bring you to our father! You can meet him!"

Dick froze, then gave him an icy glare. "You can't prove that I'm HIS son, he doesn't even know I exist. My letter said that he never will!"

"What letter?" Percy asked, quizzically. Well that was surprising, he didn't even know Poseidon, but from his tone, Dick seemed to hate him with a fiery passion.

Dick hesitated, then turned on his heel and ran back to his father, no, adopted father?

"Bruce! Bruce!" He tugged on the mans hand. "I'm feeling kinda tired, can we go home?"

Bruce glanced towards Percy and his friends, though his smile seemed pleasant his eyes were cold and calculating giving Percy chills.

What the heck was up with the citizens of Gotham?

Bruce nodded towards Dick and the pair walked out of the park towards a large limo parked on the street.

"Did they just walk into a limo?" Grover asked, dumbfounded.

"So are we not gonna discuss what just happened?" Thalia said looking annoyed at Grover.

"Richard Grayson" Annabeth mumbled. "Bruce... Bruce Willis? No, Bruce Tremone? No."

"What are you mumbling about?" Thalia asked.

"BRUCE WAYNE! Billionaire, playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne! Fostered a son Richard Grayson, after his family, a group of trapeze artists was murdered last year."

"How did you figure that out?" Percy asked.

"Don't you watch the news, seaweed brain?"

"Honestly, not really. I'm surprised you do!" This earned a glare from Annabeth. "But considering it is you, wise girl, I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

"If you two are finished flirting we need to find out what to do!

"First I need to speak with my father. He never told me he had another son." Percy paused deep in thought.

"Dick said that Poseidon didn't know he existed, but how is that possible?" Grover asked.

"Yeah, I mean sure the gods can't see what happens in Gotham, but the kid's only been living here a year. Wouldn't Poseidon have been able to sense him?" Talia added.

"We'll have to see what he says." Percy said looking east towards the Gotham harbour. "I'll have to swim out of Gotham for him to sense me."

"Do your thing!" Grover said.

"And be careful." Annabeth smiled giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Aww you do care!"

Suddenly Thalia smacked him upside the head. "Just make it quick please! I don't want to spend another hour in this city."

Thirty minutes later Percy was underwater calling out for his dad.

"Dad! Please this is important I need to talk with you now!" No answer. "It's about something that happened nine years ago, with someone named..." what had Annabeth told him before he left. "Mary Grayson?"

At first Percy thought nothing would happen when suddenly foam was swirling around him and he found himself standing on mount Olympus. His father sat in front of him on his throne, a troubled look on his face.

"Mary Roustine. That's a name I haven't heard in a long time."

"But I thought it was-"

Poseidon's face hardened. "John Grayson was... Not important. Where did you here this name? Have you, have you met her? Is she in Gotham? That must be why I couldn't sense her all these years." He smiled sadly lost in thought.

Percy stood awkwardly. He'd thought his mother was the only one Poseidon thought about.

"How, how is she? Mary?"

Percy took a deep breath then looked down. "She's umm, well, I mean."

"Percy?" Poseidon asked hesitantly.

"She's dead."

Silence.

Percy looked up. Poseidon looked shocked, wounded, he was staring straight through him now.

"Umm, So is her husband. And her sister in law and her nephew."

More silence.

"Her step brother's still alive, but uh, he's in a coma, and paralyzed for life."

"No." Poseidon whispered quietly. "I never, I never got to apologize." He looked down sadly.

Percy wanted to ask what he'd done, but there was one more thing he had to say. "Her son is still alive."

Poseidon's head snapped up towards him.

"Your son." Percy said weakly. "My brother."

Poseidon's mouth was opening and closing like a fish out of water. "That's- that's impossible. I would have-." He put his head in his hands. "I should have sensed him."

"He said he had a letter, a letter saying that you would't find him." Percy said

"From his mother, I presume." He said sadly.

"What do we do? I can't just leave him here, but he made it pretty clear that he didn't want any part of, this." Percy gestured towards himself and everything else in the room.

"He is a part of the prophesy is he not?" Poseidon asked.

"Find the bird who lived in the city of death." Percy mumbled. "I guess he was one of the only survivor in his family, but why call him a bird? Either way, yeah, I'm pretty sure he's a part of the prophesy."

"Then do everything that it takes to bring him with you." Poseidon paused in thought. "I-I would like to meet him. Bring him to camp half blood and I will meet you there."

Percy nodded and shifted awkwardly. "See you then, I guess."

Poseidon got up from his throne and wrapped his arms around Percy in a hug. Percy took a small step back at the unexpected action, then returned the hug.

Before he knew it he was back in the ocean. When Percy emerged from the water to confront his friends he gave a dangerous smile.

"Oh no, I already don't like where this is going." Annabeth said, pinching her nose.

"I know what we have to do. We have to kidnap Richard Grayson!"


	3. Kidnapped

Percy was relieved to finally be leaving Gotham City. Kidnapping Dick had been surprisingly easy. While he was being driven home from school by his butler they had intersected the limo, taken Dick and left a letter promising he'd be back soon. Sure it wouldn't do much, but hopefully this way Bruce would know they weren't hurting his son.

Currently Dick was fighting for his life in the seat next to Percy. He had a potato sac over his head and his hands and legs were bound with zip ties. They had been wearing masks during his capture so he didn't know who they were yet.

Once they had been driving for at least twenty minutes Percy turned towards Dick who was still struggling for freedom.

"Calm down Dick it's me, your brother, it's Percy." At this Dick flinched and stopped fighting slouching with a sigh. Percy slowly removed the potato sac from his head. "If I undo your hands and legs do you promise not to try and escape?"

"No promises." He said with a scowl.

Percy frowned, he didn't want Dick bound like a prisoner the whole trip. I mean sure they kidnapped him so technically he was their prisoner, but Percy wanted his own brother to at least tolerate him by the end of this.

"I know." After removing the zip ties, Percy unbuckled Dicks seatbelt picked him up and scooted into his old spot, placing Dick in the middle between him and Grover. Dicks frown deepened and he sent Percy a withering glare that made him want to cover his eyes.

Percy cleared his throat. "So, umm, do you feel any different now that we're out of Gotham?"

Dick slouched and looked down. "No."

"Was it weird adjusting to Gotham in the first place?"

"No."

"Oh." Percy said quietly, he turned to look out the window. This was not going how he'd hoped it would go.

After what felt like hours but was really only a half hour Dick spoke. "Bruce will come for me. He funds the Justice League you know. Someone will come get me."

"The Justice League? That group of super heroes that defends earth? Pshhh we could take em!"

"Correction, seaweed brain. We could not take em, they've got powerful people on their side!" Annabeth stated.

"Like who Batman? I heard he was only human, and took on a kid sidekick too! What kind of nut job would do that? They should call him squirrelman!" Percy looked toward Dick hoping he'd get a smile from his joke. Instead he found that Dick was silently fuming, face turning red with anger.

He was about to say something else when Dick took a breath in and out. "For your information Batman and Robin are amazing superheroes, I've been saved by them a few times, their really cool. Also even though Batman is still pretty strong, I think Annabeth was talking about the Atlantan king, Alien powerhouses and Amazonian princess warrior on their team." Dick crossed his arms and looked away from Percy.

Percy sighed, he hadn't meant to offend Dick. Only start a conversation, but clearly he was failing miserably. He made eye contact with Annabeth through the rear view mirror and she gestured for him to keep trying.

"Hey, uh, Dick. Listen, I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you. Truth be told I don't know a lot about the Justice League or Batman and Robin really. Could you, umm, maybe tell me about them. You make them sound so cool, I don't know what I'm missing."

Dick turned towards him with a small smile. "Well, if you insist. So first there's Batman, the dark night, Gotham cities great protector!"

Five hours later they were still on the road. Dick had nodded off around an hour ago and had his head resting on Percy's lap. Thalia has switched out with Annabeth to drive after she'd gotten tired.

Percy smiled as he remembered the conversation he'd had with Dick. After talking about superheroes they'd moved on to topics like school, friends and hobbies. Apparently Dick was some kind of genius who had skipped two grades and could already understand concepts that even Percy had trouble with and he was seventeen!

Dick only had one friend at school, a girl named Barabara Gordon who was a year older than him, she had also skipped one grade however so they were both in the same class. Dick was also unfortunately bullied, but not for the same reasons Percy had been. Unlike most Demi-gods Dick did not have ADHD or Dyslexia, instead he was bullied for his heritage. Dick explained that though his mom was Romanian his father was a Roma so he'd get called names like gypsy trash. Percy's blood boiled at the thought of someone calling his little brother those names.

"I think your getting pretty good at the whole big brother thing." Grover said smiling.

"Although you did have us in the first half, I totally thought you and your big mouth was gonna blow it!" Thalia teased.

Percy smiled back and looked down at Dick. He hadn't even realized he'd been subconsciously stroking his hair. Dick looked peaceful while asleep. While he was awake he'd only seen him either extremely angry or extremely excited when talking about his interests. Now however he looked completely peaceful.

"Can you believe that kid is nine years old?" Thalia asked. "Honestly, if he scrunched up his face right I could believe he was six!"

"Yeah well, he's still got time to grow." Percy defended. "After all our dad is pretty tall, so he's got a loooong way to go."

"Maybe he took after his mom." Annabeth joked from the front seat.

There was a moment of silence after this. Percy's face scrunched up sadly. "He's lost so much at such a young age. His parents, his aunt and uncle, and his cousin." Percy brushed some of the hair out of Dicks eyes.

"We've lost a lot too." Annabeth said sadly. "It's like a demi-god curse, we've all got tragic lives. We've all lost people we love."

"but we've fought in wars and battles, we knew the risks. And his family wasn't killed by a monster or a demon or a jealous god. Their murderer was human."

They continued driving on in uncomfortable silence. Until Percy felt Dick squirming around in his lap. He began mumbling and when Percy looked down he could see he was sweating.

Suddenly Dick began screaming in a language none of the teens could understand. This caused Thalia to startle and she almost drove off the road before regaining control of the wheel.

"Dick? Dick wake up! Wake up it's just a nightmare!" Percy yelled panicked. Dick was kicking screaming and crying in his sleep.

"What language is he speaking?" Thalia asked.

"He keeps slipping into different languages."

Annabeth said in concern. "I think I recognized Russian, Romanian and some Portuguese."

Suddenly Dick began screaming in English. "No! Stop! Leave him alone don't take him away from me!! Bruce don't leave me!"

"Dick, please wake up!" Percy begged.

"No! Stop laughing! Stop! Get away from me! Batman!" Dick shot awake in a cold sweat. Tears stained his flushed cheeks as he wearily took in his surroundings. "Bruce." He whimpered quietly.

Percy was about to say something to comfort him when Dicks eyes sharpened. He had finally realized where he was. His previously terrified face went blank and all traces of emotion vanished. He wiped the tears off his cheeks and stared at the ground.

What had just happened.

This was not normal behaviour and he wouldn't have expected it from any nine year old kid. What had he gone through to make him shut down so easily like this.

The rest of the car ride was spent in uneasy silence until they arrived at camp.


	4. Medusa

As soon as they stopped the car, to Percy's disappointment, Dick had tried to bolt. He supposed it was foolish to expect that Dick would suddenly be overjoyed at the idea of coming to camp after he had been kidnapped, it's not like he had any choice on whether he would come to camp or not.

"Ok, lil bro. We're taking you to see Chiron he'll explain everything about the camp. Trust me it's a lot cooler than you think. You might even like it!"

Dicks face looked panicked. "No! I can't face him again!"

The four friends stared at Dick in absolute shock. Percy's shock allowed Dick to wiggle free and bolt towards the woods, however Percy had just enough time to grab him by the collar of his shirt.

However instead of wrapping his fingers around fabric he felt his fingers hold on tight to a chain, when he tried to pull Dick back he found that the chain had snapped and he was holding a necklace with two wedding bands dangling from it. Dick had bolted past the barrier and was already in the woods. The kid was a lot faster than he looked.

Percy pocketed the rings, silently promising to return them once he'd caught Dick, and bolted after him into the forest, forcing his friends out of their shock.

"Dick come back! It's not safe outside the barrier!" Percy cried. Instead of listening Dick kicked off of a tree and ran in a different direction. At this rate Percy would never catch him.

"Ssssson of Poseidon!" Came an angry slithering voice. Percy stopped dead in his tracks. That voice was chillingly familiar.

Medusa.

Percy released riptide and tried to look around for Dick but he couldn't find him. Annabeth, Grover and Thalia caught up with him and saw that he was in a defensive stance, immediately they released their own weapons.

"What is it?" Annabeth asked.

"Medusa." Percy answered quietly.

He heard Thalia swear under her breath beside him. "She's finally regenerated. But why come here? Camp's a long way from her shop."

"I ssssee you child." The voice said sounding farther away than it originally had.

"She's after Dick!" Percy cried panicked, he bolted towards the voice and heard his friends as they pursued. When Percy caught sight of Dick in a clearing he was about to run towards him but was pulled back by Annabeth.

"We have to go about this smart, or we'll just put Dick in more harm." She whispered. Percy stared behind her at Thalia and Grover who had worried looks on their faces and nodded. They quietly walked around the clearing until they were directly behind Medusa.

"You will ssserve as a good price for my revenge againssst the ssstar ssspangled goddesss who interfered in my affairsss!" She cried angrily.

Percy looked at his friends and saw that they looked just as confused as he was. Clearly, this kid had already been on a few adventures in his life and he was only nine years old! Percy could see that Dick had his eyes closed, but he strangely looked peaceful, focused and sure of himself. Percy was sure he would be quaking, he knows he definitely was in his first battle against Medusa. However how could he be sure this was Dicks first battle?

"You underestimate me." Dick said as he pulled a long bronze sword from the back of his pocket. 'Where did he get that?' Percy thought.

"Ah, giftsss from the Amazoniansss. However dessspite your obviousss friendship with them, I know quite well that they refussse to train men! And a sssword in the handsss of an untrained man is jusst a sssword." Medusa was circling around the boy menacingly. The four demigods had their eyes trained on Medusa's form but avoided looking at her head.

When Percy saw her getting closer to Dick Percy tried jumping into action when Annabeth stopped him. "Wait, watch."

Percy looked at her like she was crazy, but obeyed none the less. Annabeth wouldn't stop Percy if she believed Dicks life was truly in danger. Maybe she had sent someone else to come save Dick and they were sneaking up on Medusa right now.

Suddenly Dick kicked of the ground and jumped high into the air, on his way down he kicked Medusa in the head causing her snakes to hiss angrily.

"Thisss isss not the product of Amazonian training!" She hissed.

After landing, Dick sprinted towards a nearby tree kicked off it and lunged towards Medusa's chest knocking her to the ground. He raised his sword and plunged it through her neck. Panting Dick stood up, still with his eyes closed he produced a large garbage bag from somewhere in his pocket, how many things was this kid carrying in there?

Dick bent down and carefully wrapped Medusa's head into the bag. He opened his eyes and stared at her carcass soberly. "Your right he whispered, all the Amazons refuse to train men. Except one." He said with a smile. "Besides, I was trained by the best." He mumbled the last bit so quietly Percy had barely heard him.

Suddenly Grover stood up in amazement. "What was that!" Dick jumped slightly at this and backed away. "Who trained you? How do you know the Amazons? Why did Medusa want to kill you?" Dick continued backing up slowly and Percy could tell he was about to run.

"Dick don't do it." Thalia warned.

Despite her warning Dick bolted back into the woods, but was thrown back when he bumped into something, no someone.

Dick groaned and looked up, he gave a nervous chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey Chiron."


	5. Chiron

Percy was standing in Chiron's office with his arms crossed. From looking at the faces of his three other friends he could tell they were all frustrated too and wanted answers. Dick was fidgeting in his chair, looking as though he wanted to be anywhere but there.

Chiron sighed. "So our paths cross again."

Dick looked down, was he ashamed of something?

"Did, ummm, did you get the Hermes cabin all fixed up after I left?" He asked.

What was going on? Dick had been here before? And apparently destroyed a part of the Hermes cabin.

Chiron sighed again. "Yes, and just so you know, mr. D still hasn't forgiven you so I would steer clear from him for now."

Dick gulped.

"All right, all right!" Thalia said angrily. "What is going on? I think we deserve an explanation!"

"Yeah, I'm pretty confused too." Grover added.

Percy noticed Dick shift nervously in his chair.

"I think I should start from the beginning." Chiron began, he sat down in his wheelchair disguise across from Dick and folded his arm on the table. "A little less than a year ago Diana Prince, a women you all may know as Wonder Women brought Dick to camp."

"Hold on, hold on!" Thalia cried. "You know princess Diana of Themyscera!" She pointed at Dick. "How?"

Dick looked longingly at the door than turned towards her. "Again, Bruce funds the Justice League, and." Dick sighed. "Bruce and Diana are kinda dating so..."

Thalia's mouth was hanging open. Percy could hear her mumbling quietly to herself. "Is that even allowed, I thought Amazonian's swore off all men."

Chiron cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Diana brought Dick to camp after a strange encounter she'd had with Medusa. She did not care to elaborate, but she made it clear that the encounter proved Dick had godly heritage."

Everyone turned to Dick who had turned bright red. "I do not care to elaborate, either." He said in embarrassment. "The point is it proved that I was a demigod."

"Very well." Chiron said. "Diana had hoped that Dick would stay with us for a month, train, learn about his history and hopefully be claimed." Chiron rubbed his eyes tiredly. "He didn't even stay a week."

Dick fought to hide his smile.

"Dick wreaked havoc upon the camp. Despite not appearing to have any godly strength he terrorized the other campers in combat training, using a string of acrobatic moves to disarm his opponents instead of learning the new fighting techniques from his instructors. He tore a large hole in the Hermes cabin during his stay there." Dick giggled a bit at this. "It was three in the morning, and the child's excuse for his actions was that his cabin mates were complaining about overcrowding."

Percy couldn't help but give a small smile at this, however he quickly hid it when making eye contact with Chiron.

"The worst of his pranks was when he dropped a balloon full of wine on mr. D's head." Grover and Annabeth gasped loudly, while Percy and Thalia tried to contain their laughter.

"On the fifth day we simply woke up that morning and he was gone. I hadn't seen him again until now." Chiron turned to Dick. "May I know how did you leave by the way?"

Dick smiled mischievously. "You could say I have a fast friend."

"Oh good, more ominous answers." Thalia said sarcastically.

Percy turned towards Chiron. "You said Dick didn't display any of the godly strength a demigod should have in combat training?"

Chiron cleared his throat. "Yes other than being able to pass through the barrier and see through the mist, Dick appears to be completely... human" Chiron said deep in thought. "You had not been claimed the last time you were here." He said turning towards Dick. "Am I right to assume you now know of your godly heritage?"

Dick looked uncomfortable, he glanced at Percy for a brief second then stared back at Chiron. "Poseidon."

Chiron considered Dick thoughtfully, then leaned back in his wheelchair, crossing his arms across his chest. "Another child of Poseidon. I'm surprised he broke the oath twice in these short periods of time. However I can see the resemblance, if not for your bright blue eyes, you and Percy would have been identical at your age."

"But there are still multiple questions that have yet to be answered." Said Annabeth narrowing her eyes. "If you were never claimed, how did you know of your parentage, according to Percy, Poseidon never even knew you existed. And if your really are the child of one of the most powerful gods in Olympus, how is it that you display none of the signs of a demigod? No powers, no strength, no ADHD or Dyslexia. It doesn't make sense."

Dick seemed to wilt at every question Annabeth threw his way. "I-I don't actually know why I don't have powers, or anything like that, but-"

"Poseidon doesn't know of your existence?" Asked Chiron surprised.

Dicks face scrunched deep in thought. "I'm not supposed to talk to him, my mom went through a lot to make sure I stayed hidden."

Silence.

That's not what Percy had been expecting. Dick had actively hidden from his own dad? Why? Percy remembered the sad look he'd seen on his fathers face. This also implied that Dick had known about his heritage for a lot longer than Percy had originally thought.

"How long have you known about your heritage? And how and why would you try and stay away from Poseidon?" Percy screamed. Dick visibly shrank in his chair but Percy couldn't help it, he was angry. He just didn't understand why someone would do something like that.

Dick looked down at the floor and brought his knees up to his chest. "I, umm, I only found out that Poseidon was my dad after I left camp the first time. I found a letter... It explained a lot, but it never explained how or why Poseidon never knew about me. It never explained why I had to hide." Dick looked up at Percy with angry tears in his eyes. "From the way the letter was written it sounded like my mom was afraid of something."

Percy's anger slowly vanished into nothing but sadness as he heard Dick whisper. "Afraid of Poseidon."


	6. Nightmares

Percy sleepily watched the soft rise and fall of Dicks chest as he slept peacefully beside him.

He thought back to what had happened after the meeting with Chiron, it was late everyone was weary and tired. Chiron had decided that as Dick had a habit of running away, rotating guards would be placed outside of the Poseidon cabin. Percy had sent Dick on ahead with Annabeth to see the cabin, while Percy stayed behind to talk to Chiron. "When will we tell him about the prophesy?"

Chiron watched as Dick jumped and flipped around, showing off for Annabeth. "Soon, but not yet. He has proven to be quite unpredictable and his story remains incomplete. He's hiding something." Chiron patted Percy on the back. "We'll continue this discussion another day, for now get some rest."

when Percy had entered his cabin he found Dick dangling from the roof by his legs. It took him ten whole minutes to get the young boy down, when he'd finally gotten tired of asking and flushed him down with a wave of water from the fountain in his room. Dick had seemed surprised but not angry by this action, and silently obeyed everything Percy said afterwards.

Percy had felt comfortable changing into his pyjamas in front of Dick, after all it happened in every school locker room. Dick had eyed the scars that littered Percy's chest but did not comment. Percy was surprised however when Dick demanded he turn around while Dick changed. Percy chalked it up however to him simply being shy, although a little voice nagged at him telling him there was more to the story.

The two boys had gone to sleep in separate beds that stood beside each other, and Percy was happy that the evening hadn't been as much of a struggle as he'd originally thought it would be.

Around two in the morning Percy was awakened by the sound of mumbling and whimpers. Percy had recognized these sounds as the beginning of a nightmare. Dicks whimpers began turning into weak terrified shouts, Percy tried to awaken Dick before he began screaming as loudly as he had in the car.

Percy had managed to shake Dick out of his nightmare by partially waking him up. Percy was not however prepared for what came next.

In his sleepy state Dick had mistaken Percy for Bruce. He'd wrapped his arms tight around Percy and had begun crying. Percy returned the hug but did not speak, not quite knowing what to say. Looking back he was glad he hadn't spoken or Dick might have awakened completely and realized his mistake.

Percy was not prepared for what Dick would say next. Dick sniffed and curled himself into Percy's chest. "Bruce, it was the Joker. H-he got you and I-I, I couldn't save you in time, scarecrow got there and-and started spewing his gas and then you were g-gone." Dick hiccuped as he tried to catch his breath. "Joker got to me and I was chained down again!" Dick sobbed loudly into Percy's chest. Percy was confused and concerned but he rubbed Dicks back comfortingly trying to calm him down.

"Bruce it was j-just like th-that night! I w-was chained down and J-Joker got out his hunting knife." Dick started hyperventilating. "He was l-laughing, he w-wouldn't stop laughing!"

Percy tried talking to him in a soothing voice, he didn't care if he blew his cover he'd heard enough, he didn't want to know what happened next.

"He carved the J into my chest and it felt like it was happening all over again. It still hurts Bruce." Dick whimpered, he was calming down but Percy could still feel him trembling.

Percy remembered what Dick had said about Batman and Robin, this must have been one of the kidnappings that had led to him being saved by Batman. "Don't worry Dick Batman will always save you." Percy whispered reassuringly.

Dick whimpered again. "But Bruce, than who will save you?"

Percy's face scrunched in confusion.

"You need me as much as I need you Bruce, we're partners."

No.

This was not going where he thought it was going!

"You may be Batman, but you'll always need your Robin."

No! No! No! No!

"You'll always need me to save you too."

...

This is what led to Percy watching Dick until he could be sure he was completely asleep.

Once he was sure that the soft rise and fall of his chest was constant, Percy removed the covers and laid Dick flat on his back. He shivered as he remembered the fear in his voice as he talked about the joker. He had to see the scars for himself. If anything it would solidify the fact that he was really Robin.

Hesitantly, Percy lifted up the Dicks shirt, exposing a small section of his stomach marred with angry red scars. Percy was horrified. This boy was nine years old and he already had more scars on his body than any other demigod he'd ever seen. Although he remembered that if Dick didn't have any of the other abilities of a demigod, he wouldn't have the accelerated healing that they did either.

However despite the horrifying scars he did not see any J. The worst scar on his body was still raw and red, fresh stitches were still blaringly visible on his stomach. This particular scar seemed to travel up his stomach onto his chest, which was still concealed by his shirt.

As carefully as he could, Percy removed the shirt from his chest completely and tossed it to the side.

Oh.

Now he could see the J.

The scar began up by his collar bone and traveled down below his waistline before coming back up again to finish at his hip. It was huge. Who would do this to a kid? What maniac would do this to a child who didn't look like he was more than seven years old! Percy didn't know much about the Joker, but suddenly the uneasy vibe he'd been getting from all of Gotham's citizens made sense.

But beyond the villain himself, what sane man would allow a child as young as Dick to fight crime? To fight criminals as terrifying as the Joker!

Percy fumed, if he ever met Bruce Wayne he would... He would...

No.

He clenched and unclenched his fists. From the way Dick talked, he had nothing but admiration for Bruce, and considering how the fight with Medusa went it was clear Bruce had trained him well.

Besides, Percy realized he was acting like a huge hypocrite. After all hadn't he gone on his first quest at the age of twelve. This was the life of a demigod. Sure Dick seemed to have started a bit earlier than most, and he wasn't necessarily fighting mythical creatures but his life was a battle all the same. One filled with tragedy and pain.

As Percy returned Dicks shirt and tucked him in, he was glad he'd found out. Now he could understand Dick a bit better. Percy settles into the covers beside Dick and hugged his little brother, careful to steer clear of his injury. Dick was a demigod through and through.

Percy decided he wouldn't mention what had happened. When Dick was ready to tell him, he'd be ready to listen.


	7. Comfortable

Percy woke up the next morning around seven and found that Dick was gone.

He began to panic, isn't this exactly what Chiron was worried about? There was a reason guards were posted outside the cabin to keep watch. But now knowing that Dick was also Robin, partner to the Batman, a hero who was known for blending in with the night, it was possible that he might have escaped without being detected!

Percy rushed to throw his clothes on, a pair of jeans and a navy blue shirt. He slipped on his shoes and bolted out the door.

He ran out the door, expecting to find one of the guards still on their watch, but instead found that no one was there.

Anger clouded Percy's mind as he stormed towards the big house to go tell Chiron. However as he walked passed the training ring he heard a heard eery laughter followed by the sound of clashing swords.

Percy followed the noise until he found his brother in one on one combat with no other than Nico Di Angelo.

He stormed over ready to scold Dick for running off so early in the morning but ended up stopping at the fence surrounding the arena when he realized how good of a swordsman his brother seemed to be.

He was incredible! Blocking all of Nico's swipes and managing to hit him with the dull end of his blade every once in a while.

Percy's look of astonishment turned to one of confusion when he remembered something Chiron had said.

When sparring, Dick had always favoured his acrobatic moves, preferring hand to hand combat. 'Probably from his time as Robin.' He thought. So how was he so good with a sword now if he refused to learn how to use one when he'd first arrived?

Percy looked up when Nico's sword was forced out of his hand, by a move similar to the one he'd used on Luke during his first week at camp. Nico smiled at him good naturedly, and patted him on the back.

"You're pretty good kid! I thought you said you've never used a sword before." He shoved him playfully.

Dick was staring at his sword in bewildered. "I haven't."

Percy noticed that Dick's hair still looked somewhat damp, as if he'd just taken a shower.

"You know, if you practice a bit more, you might end up as good as Percy!" He said with a mischievous gleam in his eye. "Maybe better."

"Really?" Dick asked, still looking bewildered.

Nico laughed a bit. "Okay, maybe not as good as Percy. They say he's the best swordsman in hundreds of years, but you know. You could be a close second."

Suddenly out of his trance, Dick elbowed Nico playfully. "Thanks for training with me by the way. I didn't realize anyone woke up as early as I usually do."

"Well, I am usually up by 5:00 anyway. But any earlier than that and you're gonna have to spar alone." Nico ruffled his hair.

As they began putting back their equipment Percy took this as a chance to call out to his brother. "Hey Dickie! You gave me a bit of a scare when I found that you weren't in your cabin this morning."

Dick glanced over from what he had been doing and blushed. "Uh, yeah, sorry. I guess I'm just used to getting an early start to the day, and I didn't think anyone would mind." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, I didn't run away, so there's that." He shrugged, and sent Percy a mischievous grin.

Percy sighed. "Yeah, I guess so." They shared a smile, before finishing with the cleanup and heading down to breakfast.

Throughout the day, Percy kept a close eye on Dick, trying to find any hint that he remembered the events of the night before. He wasn't sure if Dick was either a really good actor or whether he had actually not been aware of what had happened. One thing was for certain, Dick seemed perfectly content not talking about the events leading up to Percy sleeping with his arms wrapped protectively around him when he'd woken up.

~~~

Throughout the week, Dick became acquainted with the rest of the camp. He participated in camp events, made friends with more of the campers and trained daily. His swordsmanship was improving quickly, and Percy was amazed to find that not only was he a natural at almost every form of martial arts, he was also proficient in archery and throwing daggers. 'Probably from training with the bat and Princess Diana.' He thought.

Although Dick seemed to be a people person and got along easily with the other campers, he preferred to spend his time with Percy's little group of friends.

He enjoyed learning about the history of Olympus with Annabeth. Percy had to hold back a laugh when Dick had said he preferred when Annabeth would tell it compared to Diana. Apparently she skipped parts and generally talked more about Amazonian history than the history of Olympus as a whole.

Dick loved spending time with Grover in the woods looking for 'exotic plants' according to Dick. Percy had a hunch that he just wanted to see how much of the wood Grover actually considered to be food. This hunch was solidified when Grover complained that Dick had tried to make him eat a dirt pie.

Dick especially enjoyed sparring with Nico early in the mornings and Thalia late in the afternoon.

Apparently Nico reminded him of Bruce. Nico had been insulted at first, apparently he had read about Bruce Wayne in a magazine. However after Dick assured him that the ignorant airhead he saw in the magazines was just an act, Nico relaxed and even seemed pleased.

Thalia brought back memories of his cousin, Johnny. Percy had nearly teared up as Dick recalled the memories he shared with his cousin. Their past time used to consist of unrelenting teasing and excessive one upping on the trapeze. Thalia had rested a hand on his shoulder and told him how honoured she felt to be compared with such an important person in his life. Dick had hugged her fiercely after that and didn't let go for a long time.

Despite the close relationships Dick had gained with Percy's friends, he was far from Jealous. Percy and Dick spent hours on the beach talking. As they were usually pretty busy in the morning they would meet up by the shore at night, when the water glowed with the reflection from the moon and stars.

Percy recounted all the adventures he had been on, from his first adventure when he was twelve to his last that had ended only around a year ago. Dick had listened eagerly, holding onto Percy's arm tightly whenever he would describe a battle he'd had with a monster or another demigod.

He had laughed when he recounted his battle with Aries, Dicks eyes had grown the size of saucers and he smiled like mad. He was impressed that Percy had won a battle against the god at the young age of twelve. He also excitedly recounted the story of the battle Diana had had with Aries in which she also won.

Every night they would talk about a new adventure. Percy silently hoped Dick would reveal his secret, that he was Robin, the partner of the Dark knight! After all, considering how passionate he'd been when talking about them in the car, he'd assumed he would have mentioned something about the heroes of Gotham.

However, Dicks stories mostly consisted of his time with the circus, his favourite elephant, Zitka, the ringmaster, who he considered a grandfather, Jack Haley, the pranks he'd play on the rest of the crew, who he also considered family. Not that Percy minded, he loved hearing Dicks stories, but he was impatient for the time when Dick became comfortable enough to share his secret.

After around of week since Dick had first arrived, Percy was pacing back and forth on the beach. His father had said he'd meet them at camp, so where was he. Maybe, something had happened, maybe he got nervous and didn't come. Did gods get nervous?

Although he couldn't sense Dick in Gotham he must have been able to hear what he was saying when he'd first arrived at the big house. Percy remembered sadly the angry tears that had rolled down Dicks face as he confessed his mother had been afraid of Poseidon.

Finally Percy decided he would simply go talk to Dick. Maybe if he convinced him to ask Poseidon to appear himself, his father would be less hesitant about meeting him.

After asking around camp Percy found out that Dick was reading alone in their cabin. Upon entering their room Percy found Dick sitting tensely on his bed staring down at something. When he got closer he could see that tears were running down Dicks face and his breathing sounded shallow.

He ran over to Dick and kneeled beside the bed. "Dick? Hey, Dickie. It's me it's Percy."

When he didn't receive a response he began rubbing soothing circles along his brother's back. He looked down at whatever Dick was reading and his face scrunched up in confusion. It was a Gotham newspaper, he tried to read what it said but words began swimming in front of his face and he shook his head in defeat, he couldn't read this, it was in English. His brain was hardwired for Ancient Greek.

He grabbed the newspaper and set it on the night table beside the bed. He held Dicks face in his hands and brushed away his tears. "Hey, it's okay." He said softly. "What did the newspaper say? What happened?"

Dick stared blankly at Percy's shirt before looking up at him with a horrified expression. "That's j-just it." He hiccuped, his breathing began to quicken and his eyes went wide. "I-I can't read it!" Suddenly Dick began to sob uncontrollably, he clutched Percy's shirt tightly like a lifeline. "I can't read it! Why can't I read it?"


	8. Revelation

It took Percy another five minutes to calm Dick down enough to be able to explain what happened. He listened as Dicks sobs became quieter and fewer, rubbing soothing circles on his back until finally he lifted his head from its place buried in Percy's shirt.

"You wanna tell me exactly what happened?" Percy asked softly.

Dick took a shaky breath and avoided eye contact.

"You said you couldn't read the paper?" Percy asked. Dick nodded his head face scrunching in frustration, angry tears threatened to fall once again. "Hey, hey it's okay. It's okay." Percy said quickly.

This was the second time Dick had broken down in a week, and although Dick wasn't exactly conscious for his first breakdown, Percy wasn't sure if he'd be able to successfully calm him down if it happened again.

"Okay, let's start from the beginning. Umm, report everything that happened leading up to this event. Starting with where you got that newspaper." Percy said, trying to sound like what he thought Bruce would sound like in a similar situation.

It seemed to work as Dick took a deep breath and immediately calmed down. "So, well, I was trying to find a Gotham newspaper, 'cause before I left this crazy dude called Mr. Freeze escaped from Arkham asylum and I wanted to see if the situation was contained."

Now Dicks eyes were clearing up and all traces of his previous panic were gone, save for the still wet tear tracks left on his cheeks. "Annabeth helped me find a newspaper, she asked me what language I wanted it in and I said English. But when I tried reading it all the words wouldn't focus it was like the letters were swimming around. I came back here to try again but no matter what I do I can't read it!"

After finishing his report Dick took another shaky breath and quietly asked. "What's happening to me Percy?"

Percy regraded Dick thoughtfully. "You said it was like the letters were swimming? You couldn't focus on anything?" Dick nodded. "It sounds like you have dyslexia." Dicks eyes widened. "I-it's a common trait in demigods!" Percy said quickly. "Never met one who didn't have it."

Dick looked away, his face scrunched up in confusion. "But I never had it." Dick said quietly.

Percy regarded him thoughtfully. "You also said you had never trained with a sword before your sparring session with Nico." Percy said slowly.

Dick looked up confused. "I... I hadn't. Well, Diana gave me a celestial bronze sword to protect myself in case anything ever happened. That's how I defeated Medusa, but she never had the chance to train me with it." He paused for a second. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Percy had a good idea of what was happening, but he needed to be certain. "Come with me." Percy said. Dick wordlessly followed Percy out of their cabin and out into the woods.

They arrived by a small stream, the same one Percy was in when he'd first been claimed. "Do you still have your sword?" He asked.

Dick nodded hesitantly. He dug into his pocket and produced a long bronze sword. Percy admired the fine Amazonian blade, before pulling out his own blade, riptide. "Care to spar?" He asked playfully.

"I'm confused what is this going to prove?"

"I'm just... testing a theory." Percy said. "Now raise your weapon. And fight!"

Percy quickly disarmed Dicks sword and it flung to the ground.

"No fair! I'm still in training!" He said.

"Pay attention Dick, that's the exact same move you used to disarm Nico."

"I-oh... ok." He raised his sword a determined look on his face. Dick lasted a few seconds longer this time, but ultimately ended up in the same predicament as last time, with Percy disarming him.

Dick huffed in frustration and kicked at the ground. "I'm waiting for your point." He said crossing his arms.

"That day you fought Nico, you were amazing!" Percy said circling Dick. He shifted uncomfortably. "So what was the difference between than, and every other time you've fought with a sword?"

"Luck?" Dick guessed looking bored.

"Step in the water."

Dick did as he was told and immediately Percy could see a difference in his face.

"Now." Percy said lifting his sword. "Fight me."

All that was heard through the woods was the sound of swords clashing in a heated battle, although Percy was holding back a little no one could deny that Dick was putting up an incredible fight. At one point he had almost disarmed Percy. That's when Percy took the fight outside of the water.

Upon exiting the water Dick immediately deflated, he looked worn out and his technique became sloppy. Percy disarmed him within seconds.

Percy was smiling like a mad man. "The difference, was water. You'd taken a shower before your training with Nico hadn't you."

Dicks face suddenly sparked with realization.

"Dick I think your powers are emerging."

Dicks hand flew to his stomach where Percy knew he was hiding his large angry scars. "That explains..." He whispered so quietly, Percy could barely hear him.

"That explains what?" Percy asked. Was he about to finally reveal his secret?

"Umm, that explains all the weird things that have been happening this week. I've been feeling a lot stronger, I cut myself when I was sparring the other day, after my shower the wound was gone. And... the weirdest thing that happened was I think I talked to a dolphin."

Despite his slight disappointment Percy was ecstatic. Dick was getting his powers! He couldn't wait to take him swimming teach him to control water, show him that he could talk to the horses at the stable...

"Hold on." Percy said deep in thought. "Why have your powers just started to emerge now? You've practically been human for the first nine years of your life. Why now?"

Dick shrugged and was about to answer when someone bolted through the woods into the clearing.

"Grover!" Dick cried. "What's wrong? what happened?"

"Dick!" Grover paused to catch his breath. "Come quickly! Diana! Wonder Women is here and she does not look happy!"


	9. WonderWoman

Percy, Dick and Grover sprinted to the big house to find a very angry Diana yelling at Mr. D.

"You will return the child this instance! I care not of his heritage, his father has been plagued with worry ever since his disappearance, if not for Aquaman we would have never known he was-"

"Hold your horses princess!" Mr D exclaimed. "If I remember correctly, dear old dad exiled you from mount Olympus and forbade you from interfering with any and all of our affairs unless necessary. That includes the prophecy, the one the 'child' is a part of."

"Do not antagonize me brother! I have honoured the agreement in exchange for my freedom to coexist with, and defend mankind. I was to give up my place in Olympus and I have done just that! However, this IS my business and you had no right to steal him from the safety of his home in Gotham."

"Did you really just suggest that Gotham was a safe place to live?" Mr. D asked, looking bored. Although Percy could see see that despite his calm exterior he was quite tense.

"Have it your way, if you refuse to give up the boy, I must take him by force." She pulled out her sword and pointed it at Mr. D. "I propose a dual, winner take all."

A dark look passed over Mr. D's face but before any real fighting could occur, Dick ran over to Diana arms flailing in the air.

"Dick wait!" Percy yelled, but to no avail, Dick continued running.

He jumped into the surprised warriors arms and crushed her in a hug. Percy was surprised when the once fearsome women's face melted into one of love and compassion. She returned the embrace and kissed the top of Dicks head before whispering something unheard to Dick. He simply giggled and stuck out his tongue.

Dick glanced at Mr. D who looked equally as confused. "Please don't fight over this! I'm fine Diana." Dick looked up into her eyes and put a hand on her cheek, as if to reassure her that he was alright.

Diana bent down on one knee so she was eye level with the young boy in front of her. "Bruce is worried sick, I've never seen him like this before. All of Gotham seems to be affected by your disappearance. Bruce needs his partner in crime." Diana said softly.

Percy looked around at all the faces gathered at the big house. No one seemed affected by the obvious clue Diana had just given. To them it must have seemed like a metaphor, but Percy knew she meant what she said quite literally. Batman was taking out Robin's disappearance on the streets of Gotham.

"How did you know he was here?" Percy looked beside him to the source of the voice and realized Annabeth was standing beside him.

Diana looked up at her, face once again fierce and suspicious. She eyed Dick warily before answering. "A dolphin informed the king of Atlantis of Dick's whereabouts. He informed Bruce and Bruce informed me."

"Wait, you actually spoke to a dolphin! I thought you were just trying to prove a point! When did that happen?"

Dick looked at Percy with confusion. "Why would I say that only to prove a point? That's just dumb! And it happened a few nights ago while I was waiting for you on the beach. The dolphin asked me who I was and I told him, turns out he was one of Aquaman's scouts."

"Why didn't you talk to me about this conversation!" Percy cried.

Dick shrugged nonchalantly. "I didn't know how to bring it up."

Suddenly Diana flipped Dick around to face her a shocked look was on her face. "Your powers are emerging?"

Dick nodded furiously. "Percy's teaching me to sword fight with the sword you got me, but it only works when I stand in water."

"By the gods, how is this possible? You've never shown such capabilities before, why have they only just appeared now?"

Percy stepped forwards. "That's what we're trying to figure out."

Diana hugged Dick close to her and glared at Percy. A warning not to come closer. Percy crosses his arms with a frown, what did she think he would do to him? Dick was his brother! He cared about him too.

"Diana." Dick said softly. "I think I want to stay here for a little while. I want to learn to use my powers properly, so I can control them, and use them for good."

"You know little bird, you can never reveal your powers to the outside world." Diana said staring at Dick intently.

Translation, Robin can never be seen using his powers, outside of Gotham or wherever, Percy thought.

Dick nodded somberly. "I know." Suddenly he turned around to stare at Percy suspiciously. "But I would like to know what this prophecy is that I'm apparently a part of." He said accusingly.

Percy rubbed his neck bashfully, he knew what Dick was wondering, why hadn't he mentioned anything before. "We wanted to wait until you were ready." Percy said.

Dick crossed his arms across his chest and glared. "I've been here for a week, I think I'm ready."

"Indeed you are." Chiron appeared beside Mr. D from the big house and nodded respectfully towards Diana. "Diana, always a pleasure."

Mr. D scoffed and walked back into the big house, eyes still warily watching Diana.

Diana nodded her head back at Chiron. "Chiron, it's been a long time."

"So it has." He turned back towards Dick. "Are you prepared to hear the prophecy now? For once you have heard it your quest will begin immediately, and you will no longer be able to stay at camp until it has been completed."

Dick looked towards Percy for support, he wrung his hands nervously. Percy nodded with a comforting smile and Dick relaxed slightly before turning back towards Chiron and nodding his head. "I'm ready."

"So be it. Find the bird who lived in the city of death." Chiron began solemnly. "A broken family reunited in the end, a secret revealed from a good mans final breath, a cruel betrayal from the one you call friend."

A long silence hung in the air for a few minutes as everyone tried to dissect to meaning of the strange prophecy.

"So, what now?" Dick asked.

Diana looked out into the sky where the sun was setting then turned back to towards the group. "Now you rest, enjoy your last day at camp. In the morning I will accompany you on your quest, and I will aid you in any way I can."

"Diana." Chiron said, there was a warning in his voice. "Remember your deal, you can not interfere in these matters, not as long as you fraternize with mortals."

Diana scowled fiercely and huffed. "Once again, I have not forgotten my promise. However that does not mean I will not be able to aide the boy at all. I have other ways of helping." She picked Dick up and sat him down on her shoulders. "Now, where can we go to fill our stomachs?"

A few seconds went by before Annabeth elbowed Percy in the ribs, apparently Diana had been addressing him and was still waiting for an answer.

"Oh, uhh, follow me." Percy said bashfully.

Together, Diana, Dick, Percy, Annabeth and Grover all went to meet Nico and Thalia for their last meal at camp. Percy thought Thalia would die of joy when she saw Wonder Women sitting at their table.

He laughed peacefully while looking at his friends all gathered together joking and eating. He knew that this was probably the last time he'd see them all this happy for a while. They started their quest tomorrow, and Percy knew from experience that with a quest came adventure and tragedy.


	10. Plans

Percy adjusted the large bag on his back filled with supplies that would help them throughout their journey. He stared off into the woods as he waited for Grover, Talia and Dick to arrive. Annabeth was double checking everything in her bag and Princess Diana was pacing restlessly near the trees, muttering something too quietly for Percy to hear.

Earlier that morning Dick had begged Nico to come along on their journey, but Nico had argued that he had other responsibilities at camp. Although Dick seemed upset by this he understood, and the two boys parted ways with a long hug.

Percy jumped with a start when he heard a loud thud behind him. When he turned around he realized it had been Diana who had created the noise. She seemed to have stabbed her sword into the ground in frustration and then continued pacing.

Percy backed away from her carefully, receiving a quite chuckle from Annabeth who had noticed.

Percy thought he was a pretty honest kid and he knew if he was ever asked he would admit to being extremely intimidated by the warrior princess who Dick seemed to think of as a mother figure.

Suddenly, Diana stopped pacing and turned her head sharply towards camp, a large smile broke out on her face. Percy glanced in the direction she was looking and saw Dick riding on Grover's shoulders followed swiftly by Thalia.

Percy's face broke out into a smile at the miserable look on Grover's face.

Percy waved his hand in the air and called out to them. "Hey squirt! You ready to get going?"

Dick laughed, he then swiftly stood up on Grover's shoulders and flipped off of them like it was nothing.

He giggled again at the startled faces of some of the members of the group. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be." He adjusted his bag on his shoulder and turned back to Grover. "You give the best piggy back rides! You think you could last the whole trip carrying me like that?"

Grover sighed and hung his head. "Most Satyrs would kick you for a comment like that." Grover mumbled gloomily.

Percy chuckled. "Come on Grover! He meant it as a compliment!"

Percy glanced at Dick to find him nodding furiously. Grover cracked a smile and ruffled Dicks hair. "Okay, okay, I'll let that comment slide but I think I'm gonna take a break from giving piggy back rides for a couple millennia."

Dick huffed and crossed his arms. "Awww, come on!"

"It's time we focused on the journey ahead of us." Came Diana's commanding voice.

Thalia stepped forwards excitedly. "I agree, but where too? We still haven't deciphered the prophecy."

"Find the bird who lived in the city of death." Annabeth mumbled.

"Well we already found Dick." Grover said.

Annabeth nodded. "A broken family reunited in the end."

"Me and Dick turned out to be family." Percy smiled.

"However you and Dick never considered each other family until you met a little over a week ago, therefore your relationship was never broken." Diana said deep in thought.

Dicks face scrunched up deep in thought. Worry passed through his eyes as realization hit him.

"Dick." Diana said softly. "Have you reunited with your father yet?"

Dick shook his head. "No, but that wouldn't make sense, because I've never met him either."

Diana looked at him carefully. "Are you certain of that."

Dick looked up at her puzzled. "No offence Diana, but I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting the god of the sea."

"Not to mention that I spoke with Poseidon, he said he didn't even Know Dick existed." Percy said.

"What If Poseidon met Dick, without knowing who he was?." Annabeth said slowly. "Dick do you still have that letter from your mother?"

He shook his head. "No, it's still back in Gotham."

"I think something must have happened after you were born, something that terrified your mother. Something that had to do with Poseidon."

"Yeah, that must be why she was so afraid, and she broke apart your family by somehow hiding you from him! Thalia said.

"She didn't break apart my family!" Dick said in anger. "I lived with my whole family for eight years! Poseidon isn't family! He's, he's." Dick struggled to find the word. "He's evil!"

Thunder cracked in the sky, resulting in Dick jumping into Percy's arms.

Diana raised an eyebrow, she eyed Dick as he clung onto Percy's waist in fear. Percy guessed she hadn't realized how close they had gotten until now. "It would be unwise to refer to your father in that way. Despite your clear dislike of him, it is always important to show respect towards the gods."

Dick looked up into the sky and nodded.

"So it's decided then we need to go visit Poseidon." Grover said.

"Not only to reunite Dick with his father, but we also have to find out what happened all those years ago. Somehow Dicks mother was able to mask his scent from monsters, hide his presence from the gods and prevent his powers from emerging. Whatever magic she used it's extremely powerful, and potentially dangerous." Annabeth said gravely.

"We need to go to Mount Olympus." Diana said. "If such magic truly does exist, I have a feeling more than Poseidon will wish to have an audience with you."

"Aww man! Does this mean another trip to New York?" Grover asked.

"No." Diana said. "There is another entrance. It is technically against the rules to bring you to this place, but I believe I can make an exception." She smiled mischievously.

Dick began jumping up and down. "Are we going where I think we're going?"

"Yes, this entrance is found in one of the most glorious places in the world, my home."

Now Thalia was jumping up and down along with Dick. "Oh gods, are we going to Themyscira?"

Diana nodded.

Percy smirked and whispered to Thalia. "Careful, if you keep fangirling like that you might end up ruining your reputation as one of Artemis's esteemed hunters."

Thalia gave him a death glare and elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up, Jackson!"

"Do we get to fly in your invisible jet?" Dick asked. Percy arched an eyebrow in confusion.

Diana looked up hesitantly. "Yes, But we'll have to pray to Zeus for clear skies." She sighed wearily. "I've... already had to make a... deal of sorts to be granted permission to aide you. I hope I'm not stretching my luck."

"What kind of deal?" Percy asked."

"It matters not. Now come, my vehicle is rested on the beach." Percy glanced at Thalia, she had the same worried look. What had Diana sacrificed in order to help them?

As the group trudged on towards the shore Percy noticed the nervous look on Dicks face. "Hey what's wrong? You nervous about meeting Poseidon? I promise he's not as bad as you've been made to believe."

Dick sighed. "It's not just that. In the past week I've had so much fun here I didn't realize... that I, well... I lost something." Dicks cheeks started flushing red and he turned his head away from Percy.

"Hey, Dick, it's okay. You can tell me anything." He rested a comforting had on Dicks shoulder.

Dick looked up at Percy and he could see that there were tears threatening to fall. Dick reached a hand towards his neck and sighed. "My parents wedding bands. After they died I wore their rings all the time, I never took them off. It made me feel like I was carrying them around with me wherever I went."

Dick sniffled quietly. "I only noticed they were gone yesterday. When I realized I couldn't read the newspaper I tried to grab onto my rings, and, and I realized they weren't there." Dick furiously tried to blink away his tears. "I can't believe it took me this long to realize they were gone."

Something clicked in Percy's mind and his hands flew down to his pockets.

Rings?

Hadn't he pulled off a chain carrying rings when Dick first arrived? He promised himself he would return them right away, but he had never truly taken them out of his pocket! In all the excitement he had forgotten all about them.

He dug in his pocket pleading silently. Was this the pair he had been wearing that day. He usually kept his darker pair of jeans for travel, but he had two pairs of dark blue jeans. Was this the right one?

Suddenly his hand made contact with something small and cold.

He pulled out the chain of rings and presented it to Dick proudly.

Dick looked at them in shocked and snatched them out of Percy's hand. He put the chain around his neck gratefully and pressed the rings to his forehead, eyes closed. "Thank you so much Percy! Where did you find them."

Percy rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. "Well, actually I'm the one who pulled them off in the first place. It was the first day you'd arrived and when you dashed off into the woods I tried to pull you back but only ended up taking your rings instead. I'm really sorry! I was going to give them back but I forgot!"

Dick smiled softly. "It's alright, you brought them back when I needed them the most and that's all that matters." He hugged Percy lightly and tucked his rings under his shirt.

Percy was pulled out of his conversation with Dick when he heard Diana call up ahead. "We have arrived!"


	11. Flight

At first Percy was confused.

There was nothing there.

Sure Dick had said it was an invisible jet, but he thought that meant it was see through, like glass or a thin sheet of ice.

However, this was clearly not the case as Diana walked confidently towards the shore and jumped up onto what appeared to be thin air.

Dick ran ahead of Percy, and jumped onto the invisible vehicle landing beside Diana. "I call shot gun!" He yelled.

"How big is this jet? Don't they normally have two seats?" Grover asked suspiciously, walking in a large circle around Dick and Diana whose bodies had disappeared behind whatever material was cloaking the jet. Only their heads poked out at the top, so it looked like their heads were floating six feet off the ground.

"The jet is invisible and your questioning how many seats there are?" Annabeth said rolling her eyes with a smile.

"Touché." Grover quipped.

Realizing that the others wouldn't be able to enter the jet as easily as she and Dick had, Diana stepped out to aid the rest of the team into the craft.

To Percy's disappointment he was crammed at the back, as far away from his little brother as possible.

Diana wouldn't have done that on purpose, right? Percy thought.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when Annabeth layed her head down on his shoulder. "Diana said it would be a long ride. Maybe you should get some rest seaweed brain, I know I'll be taking full advantage of this trip to nap."

Percy quirked an eyebrow. "I would've thought you'd stay awake to lecture me on the history of all the islands we pass on our way, wise girl." He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled.

"I think I've done enough lecturing for the week, besides we'll need all our strength for when we travel to Olympus." She nestled her head on Percy's shoulder and sighed. "But wake me up if you see anything interesting."

Percy chuckled. "I will."

As Annabeth drifted off to sleep, Percy glanced towards the front of the aircraft. Grover was chewing on a can inspecting the sleek metal of the inside of the jet. Thalia was talking animatedly with Diana, apparently she'd just realized that they were technically half sisters. Percy tried to hide a smirk, he knew after this was over he would tease Thalia relentlessly.

His gaze finally drifted towards his little brother who was looking out at the camp as they took off towards the sky. He had a worried expression on his face, and Percy couldn't blame him. He was, after all about to visit his father who he feared, on mount Olympus of all places.

Percy frowned. Poseidon told them he would meet them at the camp hadn't he? So what went wrong? There must have been an explanation, after all it was clear he wanted to meet the boy.

Percy gazed out the window troubled by his thoughts. He watched as the ground shrank farther and farther away until Long Island was nothing but a speck in the distance and shimmering blue water sparkled below.

A few hours passed and everyone had settled down. Grover and Annabeth were both passed out asleep and Thalia looked like she was on the verge of it herself. Dick was slumped in his seat but Percy couldn't tell if he was asleep or not. Diana sat stoically at the controls, never even slouching.

Percy had his head rested on Annabeth's shoulder, and just as he was about to drift off he heard a quite voice pipe up.

"I fought Medusa you know."

Percy quirked an eye open, apparently Dick was awake. He noticed Diana's grip on the wheel tighten and her back stiffen.

"I trust your training served you well." She said her eyes never leaving the sky.

Dick nodded. "Yeah, yours and Bruce's." There was a short pause. "So... what did you do to her?"

Diana looked over at him with a contemplative look on her face. "What makes you think I did anything?" She asked curiously.

"Well, the last time you saw her on Themyscira she, uh, said she sensed two demigods on the island, you know in her own weird way. But you didn't attack her, you let her go. And before we fought, she did say she wanted revenge on the star spangled goddess. I only assumed because of your outfit and stuff."

"And stuff?" Diana asked quirking an eyebrow in amusement.

"You know what I mean! She said star spangled and sometimes your outfit looks like the American flag! So yeah." Dick said with adorable frustration.

Diana chuckled softly. "I know young one." They kept flying for another few minutes in silence.

"I decapitated her and threw her body into the sea. We kept her head as a trophy in our throne room. Of course, until she was able to reform once again."

"What did she do?" Dick asked.

"She invaded my home and tried to turn my mother to stone."

"Hippolyta? Is she okay?" Dick asked. Percy noted the concern that was evident in his voice. Before, he had had a hunch that the Amazon's were the ones to teach him to fight, now he was certain.

Diana sighed. "It was a long time ago. I am surprised she held a grudge for this long... although I suppose keeping her head as a trophy may have been a bit much."

"How did she know to come after me? I mean it's not like she actually saw me that day on the island, I was with Artemis training." Dick said. "Sure she revealed my heritage in a weird way, but how'd she even know we knew each other?"

Diana smiled at him before looking back out to the sky. "We spend much time together, little bird. Therefore, she could sense my presence on you. Besides, monsters tend to remember the presence of demigods, even if they cannot see them."

"Freaky!" Dick said shivering. He looked out the window, a sudden sad expression taking over the features of his face. "How's Bruce?"

Percy shifted his head slightly on Annabeth's shoulder. Diana Locked eyes with him in the rear view mirror, and somehow, Percy could tell she had known he was awake all this time.

"He misses you." She replied softly. "It was all I could do to keep him from coming here himself." She chuckled. "He didn't grasp the concept of a magical barrier shielding the camp from mortal eyes. He kept saying he would find a way to get through and find you."

"That's Bruce for you." There was an evident cheer to his voice, but it was tinged with a hint of sadness. "When do you think I'll see him again? I mean, this quest might last months." He said sadly.

Diana eyed him warily then locked eyes with Percy once more. "Sooner than you might think."

Suddenly, Percy could feel the lurch of the jet angling downwards. Annabeth woke with a start, rubbing her eyes she glanced out the window. "Looks like we're here."

Percy looked through the window and indeed he saw the beginnings of a lush and lavish island in the distance.

Diana's voice boomed from the front of the craft, a stark difference to the gentle tone she'd used when speaking with Dick. "Friends, welcome to Themyscira."


	12. Bruce

Percy hadn't known entirely what to expect when he arrived on Theymscira, but what he really hadn't been expecting was to see a tall intimidating man in a suit waiting for the aircraft to land.

"So obviously everything I've heard is a lie." Thalia mumbled. "Amazon's can date men and they're allowed on the island."

"Bruce!" Dick squealed. As soon as they had completely stopped Dick jumped out of the jet and into the mans open arms.

Percy's heart dropped. Of course this was Dicks adopted father. He hadn't recognized him at first glance because the last time he'd seen him he was wearing an animated smile. Now he was scowling furiously, and to make things more terrifying that scowl was aimed right at Percy.

"Oh man." He mumbled. As if the man wasn't already intimidating by himself, but with the knowledge that this was the infamous Batman, Percy was petrified.

Sure he'd thought the bat was a joke at first, but after seeing the scars that marred Dicks body, Percy had done a bit of research. His main conclusion after reading a few articles, was that this was a man you did not want to mess with.

As Percy exited the jet he saw the mans scowl turned into an expression of worry as he inspected his ward from head to toe, checking for injuries.

"Bruuuce, I'm fine!" He whined, but Percy could see he enjoyed the attention.

"I know chum." Bruce said placing a hand on the boys shoulder. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "The manors been quiet with you gone."

Dick enveloped the surprised man in a hug, and Percy could barely hear him whisper. "I missed you too, Bruce." The large man returned the embrace and a small smile crept onto his face.

Finally he stood up and looked at the group menacingly before locking his eyes on Percy. "Now, I think it's about time that we discussed the kidnapping of my son." He said coldly. Dick looked up surprised, as though he had never heard Bruce use the term son before.

"We can explain-" Annabeth began, but before she could get too far in her explanation, Dick interjected, tugging on Bruce's sleeve.

"Bruuce, stop! I was fine! Sure the way they went about everything was wrong, but their intentions were good. I actually had a lot of fun and-" he stopped himself as though unsure. "And my powers even started emerging."

Bruce took a deep breath and bent down, so he was once again on the same level as his ward. "So it's true then, Poseidon is your-" he winced. "Father."

"The letter didn't lie." Dick said, attempting a lighthearted tone, that ended up falling flat.

Bruce's eyes wandered towards Percy, although they were no longer filled with anger but suspicion.

"Come, enough of this." Diana snapped her fingers. "Before you travel to Olympus, eat, rest. Traveling by air can take a toll on your body, no matter how much sleep you believed to have gotten on the flight."

Percy and his group followed Diana through the lush gardens, training grounds and beautiful monuments that stood tall over the heads of even the Amazon's.

Each of the women they passed, whether she was training, reading, or simply taking a stroll stood at least six feet tall, and they each had the muscular build to match.

Diana herself towered above Bruce, who as intimidating as he was, was no match for the princess of Themyscira.

Finally, Diana led them to the main palace and towards what looked like a large dining hall. "Food will be delivered here shortly, in the meantime-"

"Richard!" A radiant voice echoed through the hall. Percy turned towards the source of the sound to find queen Hyppolyta herself walking towards the group with open arms.

She was a vision of grace and beauty, but despite her gentle appearance, Percy could see the ripples of muscle in her arm, and he knew that in battle she would prove to be a formidable opponent.

Dick jumped up and gave her a large hug. Percy smiled at the display, it seemed his brother was capable of making friends everywhere.

She smiled brightly. "It's so good to see you again Richard!" Turning toward Bruce she nodded her head. "Bruce. A pleasure." She said in a clipped voice.

Bruce shifted uncomfortably, then bowed his head. "Your majesty."

Percy had to suppress a smirk from forming. He guessed that the queen wasn't to thrilled that he was dating her daughter.

Suddenly her gaze swept over the rest of the group. She nodded her head respectfully to each of them in turn. "Annabeth daughter of Athena. Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Perceus, son of Poseidon. And... a satyr?" Her face scrunched up in confusion until realization came upon her. "Of course, forgive me, Grover Underwood, Lord of the wild."

"Always nice to be recognized." He joked.

"You four have quite the reputations." Her eyes lingered on Percy before she turned back towards Dick. "Come now why don't we eat! We have all your favourite dishes prepared!" She picked Dick up in her arms and placed him on her shoulders as the made their way to the table in the centre of the room.

Percy took a moment to look around as he followed the queen and his giggling brother. The walls were decorated with beautiful paintings of Demeter, the goddess of agriculture and the many legends that surrounded her life.

On the ground surrounding the chamber were many intricate statues of Amazonian women standing seven feet high in the air as if guarding the hall.

And in the centre of the room sat a large granite table, big enough to seat thirty people. As Percy sat down on one of the intricately carved chairs he admired the design chiselled into the side of the table, grape vines, all intertwining with each other along the length of the table.

"This place is amazing!" Annabeth breathed dreamily. Percy smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, he knew how much Annabeth loved architecture. For her, all of Themyscira must have looked like a dream.

Before he knew it, trays filled with heaps of food were served before their group on silver platters, and dishes and silverware were placed in front of them.

Percy breathed in the delicious scent of Greek food as he scanned the heaps of cheese platters, fruit trays, bowls of olives and grapes, freshly baked bread and grape leaves stuffed with meat and rice.

Although Percy didn't eat traditional Greek food on the daily he always enjoyed it as a special treat every once in a while.

As his eyes continued to roam the table he stopped and stared at the plate Dick was reaching towards. A smile creeped up onto his face and he had to keep himself from laughing out loud.

Apparently Dick was not the only one who would try new things on Themyscira.

In front of Dick and Queen Hyppolyta sat a large plate filled with grilled cheese sandwiches. Dick was happily munching on one while the Queen seemed to be savouring one herself, even if she was eating it with a fork and a knife.

Percy shook his head in amusement and finally began filling his own plate with food. After a few minutes of eating in silence the queen finally spoke.

"I am afraid that after your meal you will only have an hour of rest before you must continue your journey. Themyscira is a paradise void of men, this is the second time in her entire history that an exception has been made. To preserve the islands integrity, you may only stay for a short while."

"Was Dick the first exception?" Thalia asked.

Diana shook her head. "No. The first was a man named Steve Trevor, he discovered the island by accident amidst the Second World War, decades ago." She had a faraway look in her eye as though she were recalling a sad memory.

The queen sighed at the confused look on Thalia's face. "You see, Richard is not yet a man, he is merely a boy, a child. The values of men our people despise have not yet been rooted within him."

Percy scrunched his nose. "Not all men are the same you know."

Annabeth elbowed him, hard. "Ahem."

"Oww." He whimpered and rubbed his ribs, then quickly straightened up as he noticed everyone's eyes on him. "Ah, what I mean to say is not all men share these values, your majesty."

She raised up a hand as thought to silence him. "I have heard this argument time and time again. Every time my people have trusted men they have suffered. Although you believe you hold a higher moral than most men, it is an instinct that all men carry. You may not turn towards their path now, but who's to say you will not choose to do so in the future, and by then it will be too late. It is a risk my people cannot take."

Although Percy still believed the queens reasoning was too harsh, he knew arguing would be pointless.

"However, daughter of Athena, daughter of Zeus, if you ever wish to return we will welcome you with open arms." She turned to Thalia. "And maybe you will be able to convince Artemis and her hunters to come visit again, it has been decades since I have seen them."

While Annabeth thanked her politely, Percy thought Thalia would literally burst with joy.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence until another Amazon came to show them to their rooms. Grover and Annabeth followed the warrior to their rooms and Thalia went off somewhere to speak with princess Diana.

Percy turned towards Dick to see if he was coming and saw that he, Bruce and the queen were still seated at the table, speaking in hushed tones. Percy noticed the pained look on his younger brother's face.

Finally the queen left, leaving the dynamic duo to talk alone. Not sure if he should leave or not Percy stood there awkwardly for a few seconds until Bruce turned towards him.

He gestured for him to come sit with his hand and turned back towards his ward. With a solemn look on his face.

They sat in silence for a few awkward moments until Bruce spoke. "Queen Hyppolyta informed me that after your trip to Olympus it may still be a few days, even weeks until I see Dick again. As his brother I trust you've already built a bond. You'll look out for him, and keep him out of trouble. Just like Batman would with Robin."

Dicks head whipped up to stare at Bruce with mild confusion, and Percy felt his heart skip a beat.

"As you know Dick is a perfectly capable fighter, however, it's clear from the stories I've heard from Diana, that these mythological monsters are far more dangerous than any psychopath he could have faced in Gotham as Robin."

For a few seconds no one said anything. Percy sat there with his mouth hanging open for so long it was a wonder he didn't catch any flies. Dicks eyes flicked nervously back and forth between Percy and his mentor.

Finally, in a quiet voice Dick spoke. "But... the secret identity rule. Why'd you tell him?"

Percy was wondering the same thing until he caught Bruce looking at him questioningly. "So Percy, when exactly did you find out?"

Dicks head whipped toward his brother so fast Percy thought he would get whiplash. "You knew! Why didn't you say anything?"

Percy's mouth continued to bob open and closed like a fish out of water. Finally he shook himself out of his surprise. "I found out the first night you arrived." He confessed rubbing his neck bashfully.

"How?" Dick whispered, almost as though he were afraid of the answer.

"You, ah, you talk in your sleep."

Dicks eyes widened as the realization hit him. "So you heard..." He suddenly turned his head away from Percy and looked at the ground as though ashamed.

"Dick." Percy reached out but Dick moved further away from him in his chair. "I hoped you would tell me when you were ready. Trust me I've been in a few battles myself, I know it's not easy to talk about, but it's okay, whenever you feel comfortable I'll be here."

Dick crossed is arms across his chest and pulled his legs up so he could rest his chin on his knees. He still refused to look Percy in the eye.

Percy sighed sadly and turned to Bruce. "How did you know that I..." Percy trailed off, Bruce was still eyeing Dick worriedly. Percy realized Bruce felt guilty, he hadn't meant to upset him.

"You were more fidgety around me than any other member of your group." Percy looked up, he hadn't thought Bruce had even been listening.

"I may have appeared intimidating at first but that's because I was worried about Dick. However, even as we ate you subconsciously displayed certain ticks that revealed you were nervous around me. You didn't keep eye contact, your palms were sweaty, you held conversations with other parties in the room specifically to avoid confrontation, and you avoided touching any plates I may have grabbed food from. Therefore I came to two conclusions, the first being that you were afraid of me, which although possible was unlikely as I pose no threat to you. So, I was left with the conclusion that you were keeping a secret from me, or in this case a secret about me, that you were trying desperately not to reveal."

Percy's eyebrows shot up into his head. Had he really shown all of those signs? He hadn't even noticed. So much for being discreet.

"It's okay." Dick said, finally looking up. "I mean, he is the worlds greatest detective." He gave Percy a soft smile that Percy happily returned.

"I promise I'll protect your son on this quest, Br- Umm Mr. Wayne." Percy laughed nervously.

Dick looked bewildered again as though he were getting used to the word son.

"Please, Percy, we're practically family. Call me Bruce."

Dick smiled and hugged the two of them together in a very awkward embrace considering they were all still sitting down together at the table.

"Now if you don't mind, I'd like to talk with my son for the little time we have left together."

Percy nodded and got up to leave.

"Son?" He heard Dick ask.

"You were gone a long time chum. I- Alfred was worried-"

"Aww Bruce it was only a week." Dick laughed, but Percy could tell he felt the exact same way.

"Don't scare me like that again Dick." Bruce chuckled softly.

As Percy neared the hall that would lead him to his room he turned and saw Dick envelope Bruce in a hug.

"I won't... dad."


End file.
